U.S. missile defense plan condemned

BERLIN – The leader of Germany’s governing Social Democrats criticized U.S. plans to locate a missile defense system in eastern Europe, insisting in an interview published Monday that “we need no new missiles in Europe.”

The U.S. plan to place a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of its proposed missile defense shield has infuriated Russia and prompted some unease elsewhere in Europe.

“We need no new missiles in Europe,” Kurt Beck, the chairman of the center-left Social Democrats, was quoted as saying in an interview with the mass-circulation Bild daily. The Social Democrats make up half of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition.

Beck said his party “does not want a new arms race between the USA and Russia on European soil.”

“Europe must speak with one voice here,” he added, according to the report. “There are enough problems worldwide that we need to master; I would name poverty, climate change and terrorism — new missiles and weapons systems won’t help here.”

Washington says the planned defense system would protect against a potential threat from Iran. It has sought to allay Russian concerns with assurances that the small bases would have no effect on Moscow’s nuclear deterrent.

Beck’s comments came after Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, called over the weekend for “calm and seriousness, not agitation.”

Steinmeier wrote for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the U.S. desire to protect itself from Iranian missiles “is legitimate … but security cannot be bought at the price of a new mistrust or a brand-new insecurity.”

Germany currently holds the European Union presidency. On Monday, Steinmeier and top EU officials were to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington.